High school competitors to share secret agent devices at engineering contest


LAWRENCE — Hundreds of high school students from around Kansas and the Kansas City metro area are scheduled to compete Tuesday, Nov. 5, in the University of Kansas School of Engineering High School Design Competition. 

This year’s main event, sponsored by Halliburton, sports the secret agent theme “License to Build” and spans a broad range of technical fields, focusing on mechanical and civil engineering. Teams are required to construct at their schools a small automobile-like device capable of completing an air test, a land test and a water test. The competition brings all teams together for a head-to-head contest to determine the best designs.

Check in begins at 8:30 a.m. at Horejsi Family Athletics Center, and from there students will be sent a specific location at the engineering complex for the first of the three contests. The land race competition will take place in Eaton Hall in the Spahr Engineering Classroom.  The parachute drop air competition is planned for the atrium area at the Measurement, Materials and Sustainable Environment Center.  The water competition – where devices will pick up simulated water mines – will take place in the courtyard between Learned Hall and Eaton Hall.  

A separate competition for teams interested in robotics and programming will take place from 9:45 a.m. to noon in the Gridiron Room of the Burge Union. The Lego Mindstorm competition requires teams to build a robot to complete three different challenges relating to spy boot camp. The Lego Mindstorm competition awards will be announced in Spahr Classroom at 1 p.m., prior to the High School Design Competition awards ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 1:30.

Lunch and competition T-shirts will be provided to all participants.

List of participating schools:

  • Atchison High School
  • Baldwin High School
  • Basehor Linwood
  • Belton High School Freshman Center
  • Bishop Carroll Catholic High School
  • Council Grove High School
  • Frontenac High School
  • Gardner Edgerton High School
  • Great Bend High School
  • Halstead High School
  • Junction City High School
  • Kansas Academy of Mathematics & Science
  • Labette County High School
  • Free State High School
  • Lawrence High School
  • Maranatha Christian Academy
  • Maur-Hill Mount Academy
  • McLouth High School
  • Neodesha
  • Northeast Magnet
  • Odessa High School
  • Prairie View
  • Remington High School
  • Riley County High School
  • Rolla High School
  • Royal Valley High School
  • Seaman High School
  • Spring Hill High School
  • Tonganoxie High School
  • Topeka High School
  • Washburn Rural
  • Wellsville High School
  • Wichita Heights.

Mon, 11/04/2013

author

Cody Howard

Media Contacts

Cody Howard

School of Engineering

785-864-2936